A Slightly Different Breed
by CaChrisSo
Summary: An idea that I've had brewing for the past three years! Feedback loved, possibly to be continued. :)


Possibly the start of my Doctor Who fanfic with my OC, but I just need feedback! :)

* * *

For the Doctor, the day started out as it usually did. The night before he had taken his weekly snooze, during which he dreamt of many things among them, ponds, Romans, spoilers and blue boxes. He had woken up, got dressed, snapped his braces, fixed his bowtie, had a delicious breakfast of fish custard and gone on to fix some parts of the Tardis which needed attending to.

When he was done that, he had set the Tardis controls to random, waiting to be taken to some part of the universe that needed help. He had left the brakes off for the past couple of trips (for secrecy, not because River told him to), so he never noticed his Tardis landing, and was too distracted by the prospects of a new adventure, and developing a new app for his screwdriver.

* * *

For Ruby, her day began as normal. She awoke early, and the minute her eyes opened, she leapt from her bed to see if John had come home. Unfortunately, the blue box was not in its usual spot, the trampled-down square of grass it occupied vacant. Disappointed, she trudged down the stairs in her pyjamas, not hearing the vworp-vworp of the engines.

She had just kissed both her mother and father on the cheek, ruffled her older brother Tony's hair in greeting and opened up a banana when John walked in. To say everyone was delighted that he was home would be an understatement, no one happier than Ruby. As he sat down, to enter into his so-called 'domestic mode', she swooped in to give him a light peck on the cheek, and received a cheeky grin as a response.

He began babbling about the planet Nescirean, which Ruby knew was a planet that housed a species that were known as Nescireans, which was a terribly bland name if you asked her. The Nescireans had just been invaded by a group called the Invaders (another bloody obvious name) who all wore permanent brain-implanted headpieces. If a member ever betrayed the group or tried to leave, they were executed by use of their headpiece. John had gone on to say that he helped evacuate the Nescirean men and their children and began to lead the female warriors in to battle. The rest of the family was riveted. As he got to the bit about the Invaders defeat, Ruby asked if it had anything to do with their headpieces. John just beamed back at her, pleased but not surprised. When Mum coaxed him into continuing the story, Ruby slipped out of the room.

* * *

She had a plan. That plan? To get into the Tardis. Being in the ship was natural for her, almost a birth right. But in the past few years, her mother had begun to dislike her being in there even more than she already did. It was a struggle to sneak onto the Tardis, but she would continue to do so. Being stuck in one time and place gave her the fidgets, at least in this incarnation. She'd be damned if she had to stay on Earth for more than three months at a time.

The first step in her plan: Get dressed in appropriate travelling clothes. For appearances sake, Mum often had her dressed to the nines, in a skirt and dress-top, high heels and make up. This, Ruby did not like. Her legs were currently short and stumpy, and though the heels helped increase her height slightly, they made her calves appear ten times as worse. This body wasn't a complete disappointment though. She was an average dress size, but her…ahem, assets were better than most girls. Her hair was a deep auburn, full of waves, coming just to the top of her hips, and on the odd day that she was able to tame it, felt like silk. Under her mop of a fringe, beset in a rounded rose-cheeked face were her eyes, inquisitive and suspicious. John likened them to blue amber because they appeared to be a dark turquoise when in normal light, but when the sun's rays caught them in a certain way, they shone like gold. Her face was slightly spotty, with a ridiculous amount of freckles. Dad often joked that he would be scrubbing at her face for more than a hundred years if he tried to get them off. Ruby knew he would never have that amount of time. But she would.

Thinking about her family made her feel slightly guilty for her plan. Her parents weren't perfect, and Tony could be a right annoying little toe rag, but they tried, they really tried, and it wasn't as if her condition made it any better.

Shaking her head, she continued on, editing her plans slightly: Instead of taking John with her, she would use him as a distraction while she got away. She would go on adventures and explore the universe, taking her time, as usual, but she'd make sure that she'd be back in time for brunch, or second breakfast, whichever.

Her outfits for travelling were always the opposite of what she had to wear normally. They were casual, simple, comfortable and extremely easy to run in. Today, she felt like going to the rocky waterfall of Macrimonea 3, where the cliff face was made out of solid silver and the water was the colour of roses. Roses. She winced. Not a good subject.

With a grimace at her previous thoughts, she threw off her pyjamas, and slipped into a pair of khaki Capri's, a white t-shirt, a beige wool cardigan and a pair of brown leather lace-ups. She picked up a simple pair of togs, in case she wanted to go for a swim, her purse that contained various types of planetary currency and her I.D. and shoved them all into a bag. Just as she was about to leave, she remembered she was forgetting something. Two things, in fact. Her bronze and purple sonic pen and a banana.

* * *

Persuading John was easy. All she had to do was wave the banana in his face a couple of times while murmuring seductive and encouraging words in a voice she imagined bananas would have if they could talk. One mention of the word 'daiquiri' and he was sold.

"Good luck," he said, softly, "Come home, quickly, before I miss you too much."

She chuckled quietly. "You won't even notice I'm gone."

He hugged her tightly and planted a sloppy kiss on her forehead, which she made a face at. Grinning, he jokingly saluted her and grabbed the banana. Ruby thought she saw him caress it slightly. Men. Correction, half-men.

She nipped out the back door at great speed, making sure no one saw her as she left. It took only four long strides before she was at the doors, the great wooden doors of the sapphire coloured phone box.

Ruby couldn't help the almost-wicked grin that covered her face. Her family, her self included, seemed to get an almost guilty thrill off breaking the rules. Ignoring the key that hung on a chain around her neck, she snapped her fingers, and the doors opened wide with a loud, melodious, deliciously-welcoming groan.

The doors, as they always did, closed behind her as she made her way to the console. She shrugged of her bag, before beginning a chaotic, but controlled dance around the central control panels. Flicking switches here, pushing and twisting things there. Listening to the Tardis begin to sing her song of time and space as she started to dematerialise. Almost too late, she realised she'd forgotten to turn the ship on silent, and leapt to do so before her quick getaway was ruined. Sighing in relief, she raised her head slightly and calmly, almost relaxedly gazed around the room. Until, that is, something caught her eye.

In the middle of the monitor screen, against a background of deep black, was a large crack. A large, crack that glowed so brightly blue, it looked almost white.

Frowning, she messed with the dials, but nothing she did got rid of it. Alright, then, let's try something else. She crossed over to the doors and inched them open, holding her breath until she was sure the air shields were up. It was there. Just there. In the middle of the air, hanging like a crooked, evil smirk on a villain's face. She realised how dark it was shortly after, but according to her brain, these coordinates usually were home to a huge and powerful star. But now it was gone. Sure, she could be wrong. But that was the thing. She never was.

Suddenly, the crack began to glow even brighter and grow even bigger. Warning bells went off in Ruby's head, right before they went off in the Tardis. She flew back inside. This time her dance was more erratic, filled with panic. But they just kept getting closer.

"No, no! Move away, it's dangerous here!" She thought, desperately.

"I cannot. The pull is too strong!" The Young Girl replied.

Ruby kept dancing, kept twirling, kept spinning, growing more agitated, more frightened. Nothing worked. It wasn't long before that bright dangerous smirk swallowed them whole.

It quickly shut behind them, and there was darkness. The Tardis stopped talking, the universe stopped singing, and there was silence. Then the pain began. They were in the Void, where nothing was, where nothing ever was. No sound, no sights, no smells, nothing. No space. No time. The Tardis lit up like a giant scarlet flare, and began to spin fast and faster and fastest. Ruby stumbled and tripped and grabbed hold of the railings tightly, too shocked to move, to think, doing nothing but hear the Tardis scream without the feel of the Vortex in her.

"There is only one thing I can do." The Tardis gasped above her cries of agony.

There was a bright white and gold light, and Ruby felt her eyes burn and she lost her sight. Pain and what felt like fire covered her whole body, with little points here and there hurting the worst, like a red hot poker to an open wound. She screamed with her mouth shut, and cried with her eyes open, unseeing.  
She heard the Tardis murmur "Be safe, dear one.", before Ruby felt her warm presence in her head disappear, leaving an empty void in her head and her hearts.

Her sight came back quickly, or slowly, she wasn't sure. She felt more than saw the second crack, this one so white that it looked like blue, and noticed her body, which was hard to recognise, was shooting towards it. Through it she saw a normal suburban street, and felt the smack of concrete against her head as the crack closed shut.

* * *

It took the Doctor five minutes to realise the Tardis had stopped moving. He gave the console a light slap, scowling. "You could've told me, you know?" He exclaimed, unhappy.

It felt like many pairs of disbelieving eyes were on him, so he backtracked. "Alright, I know you couldn't, but still! It's the point, not the principle!"

Sometimes, he thought he aggravated the Tardis so much she was able to make her feelings known. It was either that, or a sudden giant gust of wind had dealt him a large knock so strong that it felt like a huge slap to the back of the head.

Giving himself a shake, and sighing in defeat, he made his way to the entrance of his ship, and through the doors open with gusto. He then tripped. His bad mood back, he turned to see what had caused his fall. What he saw made his face fall as well.

* * *

She was small, he noticed as he carried her into the Tardis. She had a lovely shade of hair that he felt quite jealous of. Some people just get all the luck. Groaning softly, he turned his gaze on her. No, no they don't.

Her wounds were too severe. The front of her was covered in cuts and lacerations, and her back…her back was burned. Not just the slight burn you might get off the steam of a kettle. A ruby red burn, crusted with black bits, covered her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. What clothes she had on were falling off, so he took off his tweed, and covered her with it, just to preserve her dignity. She wouldn't last long, but he felt like he owed it to her. Which was ridiculous, really, because he owed her nothing. He owed noone anything.

But she was brave. He could feel it. And she'd been strong too, before this. She was still strong. Still alive, he realised, startled. Her breath was irregular, and her heart beat in a funny pattern, but she was still there. And probably in a lot of pain.

"I'm sorry," he whispered mournfully. "If I could, I'd do anything to save you, but there's nothing I can do. I was too late. Again."

His eyes darkened and his hearts drooped, and he sat there, silent, holding her and watching the occasional rise of her chest. It felt like hours, and he focused on her. How could something like this happen? He had found her in the middle of a house full of streets. It had been night, so he supposed noone had noticed her. Nothing bad could happen to this extent in an area teeming with domesticity. Could it?

His thoughts were halted when she began coughing weakly. He moved closer to where he had placed, on the captain's seat, and kneeled in front of her.

"Hullo," He smiled cheerlessly."

"Hey." She responded, croakily.

She opened her eyes. They were pools of blue, with little streaks and lines and dots of molten gold. He loved impossibilities.

"Who are you?" She enquired.

"I'm the Doctor."

She groaned, and he became alarmed, fearing she had really begun to….he wasn't going to think about it.

"Of course you are."

He quirked an eyebrow, curious, but now was not the time for questions. Made by him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "Your injuries are too bad, I can't..." He trailed off. Another he couldn't save.

"Don't worry. I'm sure I can do something about it." She breathed.

"That's the spirit." Now was the time to prepare himself, to ready himself for the light to fade from her impossible eyes.

"You might want to stand back a bit, I don't want you to get hurt."

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "How would I get hurt?"

"Well, not that I'd know from experience, but regenerative energy is meant to be a bitch when it's not your own."

The Doctor's head snapped up, causing a crick in his neck.

"What?" he muttered.

He watched as the gold translucent faux flames licked up her arms moving so fast she was covered entirely in nearly an instant.

"What are you doing?" He shouted.

She looked at him as if he were stupid. "Doing something about it." She replied.

He got to his feet, and stumbled back, completely at a loss for words.

"I know," she told him. "Not something you see everyday, is it?"

And with that, and a cheeky grin, she exploded with light, and the Doctor had to duck his head away from the brightness.

* * *

Well, what do you think? Continue or nor? Or go back to my drawing board and fix it!

Please dear god review! It'd make me so very very happy! :)


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